Conveyer



N. D. LEVIN Aug. 5, 1941.

CONVEYER Original Filed March 6, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 3nventor:

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Gttornen Aug. 5, 1941.

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CONVEYER Original FiledMarch 6, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet, 3

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Gttorneu Patented Aug. 5, 1941 CONVEYER Nils D. Levin, Columbus, Ohio,assignor to The Jeffrey Manufacturing Company, a corporation of OhioOriginal application March 6, 1937, Serial No.

Divided and this application December 3, 1938, Serial No. 243,810

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a conveyer which is particularly adapted toform a part of a system for removing dirt bands or slate from a coalmine vein.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved type of conveyerwhich can be operated to discharge material over either end thereof.

A further object of the invention is to provide a conveyer adapted to bepositioned adjacent the arcuate face of a coal mine room.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved arcuateconveyer with mechanism to drive the conveying chain thereof andmaintain it in proper tension at all times.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved conveyerwith means to guide the chain into stationary guideways particularlywhere the conveyer is of an arcuate construction.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter, the novelfeatures and combinations being set forth in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings,

Fig. l is a somewhat diagrammatic plan view showing a system includingthe conveyer comprising my invention as employed in a coal mine;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing one end of the central or faceconveyer of my invention and the receiving end of one of the wingconveyers;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view of a detail showing particularly thedrive means for the central or face conveyer;

Fig. 4 is a side elevational View of one of the wing conveyers;

Fig. 5 is a side elevational view of an end of the central or faceconveyer;

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 6-5 of Fig. 3looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. '7 is a detail view partly in section showing particularly themeans for driving one of the wing conveyers from the central or faceconveyer; and V Fig. 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Fig.'7 and showing one of the one-way drive clutches for one of the wingconveyers.

This application is a division of my application for a Mining, system,Serial No. 129,446, filed March 6, 1937, patented August 15, 1939,Patent No. 1,169,424 which claims the conveyer herein claimed incombination with other elements which form the complete system, or atleast a part thereof.

The conveyer herein claimed is disclosed as a ting mining machine l2travels along the. central mine track between rows of mine roof props 4949 on opposite sides of the mine entry but spaced from the opposite ribsof the mine entry. The track-mounted mining machine 12 may be of thetype shown in the'patent to Levin et al., No.

1,971,862, granted August 28, 1934, for Coal mining apparatus, if thestratum or band of foreign material is at or a short distance above themine bottom. If the band of foreign material is at a higher elevation,the Keri-cutting mining machine illustrated in the Levin Patent No.2,021,- 664, granted November 19, 1935, may be employed. It should beunderstood, however, that any other suitable type of kerf-cutting miningmachine may be employed provided that the kerfcutter may be adjusted tothe elevation of the dirt band and can operate to swing the turntable Hon the vertical axis [2 to effect swinging feeding movement of thecutter bar 14 along an arc concentric with the arcuate working face I3,and provided further that the mining machine can make a rectilinear cutas illustrated by the dotted line H in Fig. I, and a correspondingwithdrawal out can be made on the opposite side of the mine entry. Inother words, the track-mounted mining machine is of such type that itmay have traction feed along the central track H to sump in the kerfcutter l4 rectilinearly along, the line H in continuation of the. rib12, then be'fed arcuately to out out the dirt band by producing a kerfthe inner end of which is parallel to the working face I3, and finallyby traction feed producinga rectilinear withdrawal cut incontinuation ofthe rib l3. Inasmuch as the dirt or slate bands may be at any elevationbetween the floor and the roof, it is preferable to select akerf-cutting mining machine in which the kerf cutter may have a widerange of adjustment in elevation.

In the operation of the mining machine l2 to cut a. kerf at the properelevation to remove thedirt or slate band, the machine is adjusted withthe cutter bar M inthe position illustrated in Fig. 1, and thekerf-cutting mechanism is 12' while the truck with the mining machineremains stationary on the main track II. The

rectilinear withdrawal out is effected at the end of the arcuate feedingmovement, by moving the whole mining machine rearwardly along theminetrack II at a feeding speed, and toward the right as viewed in Fig. a

Ordinarily the cutting of a'single kerf will be sufficient to remove theentire band of foreign material but in some instances it maybe neces.sary to cut kerfs at two different elevations, for' instance above andbelow a layer or stratum'of slate. referred to, endless ,travelingkerf-cutting chains are mounted for movement around a cutter bar in suchadirection as to emerge from the face of' themine veinon the advancingedge of the cutter bar so that'the cuttingswill be swept from the kerfand permitted to drop downwardly along thejface l3 of the mine entry 10.

Positioned directly below the kerf cutter I4 isan'a'rcuate face conveyerl5, which forms the subject matter of the invention hereinclaimed.Thisfconveyer l5 receives the cuttings as they fall from the kerf underthe influence of the endless chain cutter. This face conveyer l5comprises anarcuate trough l6 mounted on a supporting frame I! whichrests on the mine bottom On that side of the trough l6 adjacenttheworking face I3 is pivoted at 18' a receiving chute plate or apron 18preferably arranged in a-plurality of individual sections end to end, asshown :iriFig. 1. The plurality of individual sections are separatelypivoted as shown at I8" in'Fig; 6 to that edge of the trough l6 adjacentto the" working face IS. The apron plates is have arcuate edges inarcuate alinnement and conformingto the curvature of the arcuate face I3 so. as to make intimate contact therewith. The apron plates 18 thuscontacting with the arcuate face l3 are in position to assure that thecuttings from the kerf cutter I4 will be directed'to the trough l6throughout the various feeding movements of the'kerf cutter, includingthe'f recti linear 'sumping and withdrawal cuts and the intermediatearcuate feeding cut.

"The faceconveyer I5 isprovided with head shafts 'l9, l9 at the oppositeends thereof. Discharge'may beeffected from either end of the conveyer,and therefore the conveyer has a discharge head'at eachend. As theconstruction ofge'achjof the discharge heads of the face conveyerj' i5is similar, a description of one will appgly to' both: Each of said headshafts I9 is provided with a central sprocket 20, as shown in Figs. 1and 2, and each head shaft I9 is mounted upon the frame I! in suitablejournal bearings 2|, 2|. By referring to Fig. 1 it Will b'e's'e'en thatthe axes of the head shafts 19, I9 are-fixed relative to the arcuateconveyer trough and converge toward the center of the arcs along whichthe edges of the trough 16 extend. In other words, the axes of the headshafts I!) are 'fi fil zlffi iltiy tofthe curvature of the trough 1.6.fietween the; two ;,sprockets F20, 20 extends ai-Wntin md double-Jointedor universal type? conveyercha n; 2 2,, the, links of which arearticulatedon pivots 1the 'axes,,,0fv which are at right tending troughengaging flanges carried by some of or all of the links which havevertical pivots. The guide members 23 above and below the trough bottomI6 are arcuate, as shown in Fig.

1, and concentric with the curvature of the inner and outer walls of theconveyer trough I6.

The arcuate guide members 23, 23 guide the conveyer'chain 22 along thecenter of the trough "it during the upper run, and the under arcuate Insuch mining machines as those above guide members 23 retain the chain 22in close proximity to the underside of the cenveyer trough It. In fact,the oppositely facing grooves in the guide members 23 co-operate withthe trough engaging flanges of the chain to afford an interlockingconnection between the chain and the conveyer bottom both on its upperside and on its lower side.

Laterally extending scraper conveyer flights 24 are connected to certainlinks at intervals, as shown in Fig. 1. The flights 24 are in factscraper flights and are held in scraping positions relative to thebottom of the conveyer trough It by the interlocking connection betweenthe chain and the guide members 23, 23. It will thus be seen that theinterlocking connection between the chain 22 and the guide members 23,23 on the upper side of the conveyer trough bottom retains the flightsin position to scrape along the bottom of the trough i6, and on theunderside of the conveyer trough such interlocking connection keeps theconveyer chain together with its flights from sagging.

Midway between the ends of the conveyer l5 and associated with the lowerrun of the chain 22, I providethree shafts 25, 26 and 21, as shown inFigs. 2 and 3. The shafts 25 and 21 have stationary axes convergingtoward the center of the arc of curvature of the trough l6. These shafts25 and 27 are journaled in bearings 28, 28 and 29, 29, respectively, tothe frame I1. The shaft. 26 is also radially arranged relative to thecenter of the arc of curvature of the trough l6, and is arranged forvertical adjustment by being journaled to the journal bearing boxes 30,30 whichare slidable vertically in the guides 3|, as shown in Fig. 3.Vertical screw adjusting mechanism comprising the vertical screw-threaded rods 32, 32, is provided in association with the boxes 38, 39 andguides 3|, to adjust the tension in the chain 22.

As clearly illustrated in Figs, 1, 3 and 6, the shafts 25, 2B and 21 areprovided with central sprockets 33, 34 and 35, respectively, about whichthe lower run of the chain 22 is reeved. The central shaft 26constitutes the dI'iVe shaft for the chain 22 since it carries at thatend remote from the coal face, a sprocket 36 which is connected by asprocket chain 3 8 to a sprocket on the shaft of the reversible electricmotor 31. This is shown in Fig. 2 and diagrammatically in Fig. 3.Obviously, by driving the electric motor 3'! in reverse directions, thedirection of travel of the endless flight conveyer may be reversed,depending upon whether the cuttings from the kerfs are to be dischargedfrom one end of the arcuate conveyer trough l6 or the other end.

Adjacent each of the head shafts l9 and located inwardly thereof, Iprovide a guide and drive shaft 39 journaled in the frame IT by means ofappropriate journal bearings 40, 49. The shaft 39 carries a centralsprocket |4| as shown in Figs. 2 and 7. By referring to Fig. it will beseen that the sprocket |4| is in position to guide the chain 22accurately to and between the guide members 23, 23 on the underside ofthe conveyer trough bottom. It should be understood that the centralsprocket MI is located at both ends of the conveyer so that the conveyerchain will be directed into the receiving ends of the guide members 23at both ends of the conv-eyer'trough. In a similar manner the sprockets33 and 35 are arranged, as shown in Fig. 3, to guide the chainaccurately into the receiving ends of the guide members 23 which areinterrupted adjacent the driving mechanism illustrated in dotted linesin Fig 2 and in full lines in Fig. 3.

The shafts 39 also comprise means at both ends of the conveyer foroperating rib conveyers 4|, 4| which extend along the ribs 12 and 'l 3to gob piles between the mine roof props 49, 49 and the ribs I2 and 19.The rib conveyers 4| and 4| are similar except that one is righthandedand the other is left-handed, and they are connected to the arcuateconveyer to be selectively driven from either end thereof.

The rib conveyer 4| comprises a frame 42 which forms a trough withinwhich a continuous belt 43 travels over a head pulley 45 and a tailpulley 44. The tail pulley 44 is preferably adjustable for the purposeof varying the tension of the belt 43. The upper run of the belt 43 issupported upon a plate 46, and the lower run is supported upon the idlerrollers 41, 41, as shown in Fig. 4.

The receiving end of the conveyer frame 42 is provided with a hopper 48adapted to guide material to the belt 43 by which it will be conveyedrearwardly and discharged over the tail pulley 44. The discharge end ofthe conveyer 4| is preferably elevated and supported by one of the roofprops 49. By means of a rib wall jack 55 having one end U-shaped toembrace the roof prop 49 and the other end provided with an adjustableanchorage, a horizontal support at adjusted elevation may be providedfor the underside of the conveyer 4| near its discharge end, asillustrated in Figs. 1 and 4.

It should be particularly noted that the foreign material, such as dirtor slate cut out by means of the kerf cutter M from the dirt band in themine vein, is delivered into the space between the rib l2 and the roofprops 49, 49, and as the mining operations are extended, continuous gobsare formed at the ribs back of the roof props, where they may be leftindefinitely, especially if the mining operations are performed toextend an entry.

To drive the pulley 45 at the receiving end of the conveyer 4| andthereby effect the driving of the belt 43, the shaft 5| of the pulley 45is provided with a sprocket which meshes with a chain 53 and the latterin turn meshes with a sprocket on the transverse shaft 52. The shaft 52carries at that end remote from the rib 13 a bevel gear 54 which mesheswith a bevel gear 55 mounted upon a shaft 56 carried upon appropriatejournal bearings in a bracket 51 rigidly attached to the frame 42. Theshaft 56 also carries a sprocket 58 with which a chain 59 meshes. Thechain 59 also meshes with a sprocket 6|! associated with the shaft 39 ofthe face conveyer l5.

Itshould be noted that whenever the conveyer 22 of the face conveyer I5is operated by themotor 31, both ofthe shafts 39 at opposite ends of theconveyer will be rotated. It is preferable that only the rib conveyer towhich material is delivered, be operated when the conveyer I5 is driven,and that the other rib conveyer which is not receiving material, remainidle. Provision has therefore been made, as shown in the drawings, tooperate the rib conveyers alternately and'automatically, dependent uponthe direction of movement of the arcuate conveyer I5. That is to say,when the chain 22 is driven in a direction to effect feeding of cuttingsto the rib conveyer 4|, the latter shall be operated while the conveyer4| remains idle, and when material is delivered to the conveyer 4| theconveyer 4| shall remain idle, and that the proper driving connectionsmay be automatically established when the face conveyer I5 is reversed.x

As above explained, reversal of the direction of movement of the chain22 may beeifected by reversing the direction of rotation of the motor31. To provide for the automatic operation of the rib conveyors inaccordance with the delivery of cuttings thereto, I provide between theshafts 39 and the sprocket 69 automatic clutches 6|, as shown in Figs. 2and '7. The clutches 6| are reversely connected between the shafts 39and the sprocket 69 so that only one of these clutches will come intooperation to drive the sprocket 69 when the arcuate conveyer is moved inone direction, and theother clutch will come into operation when thearcuate conveyer is driven in. the opposite direction.

By referring to Figs. 2 and 5 it will be seen that when the arcuateflight conveyer delivers cuttings to the conveyer 4|, the shaft l9rotates in an anti-clockwise direction while the shaft 39 rotates in aclockwise'direction. Now by referring I to Figs. '7 and 8 it will beseen that such clockwise rotation of the shaft 39 will effect operationof the automatic ball clutch to transmit rotation from the shaft 39 tothe sprocket 59 and thus effect operation of the conveyer 4|. At the opvposite end of the arcuate conveyer IS the clutch corresponding to thatshown in Figs. 7 and 8, will be released. When, however, the conveyer l5delivers material to the rib conveyer 4|, the latter will be driven andthe clutch shown in Figs. 7 and 8 will be reversed so that the conveyer4| will remain idle.

The detailed construction of the one-way clutch BI is illustrated inFigs. '7 and 8 of the drawings. Each of the clutches 6| comprises a hub62 keyed to the shaft 39. The hub 62 is provided with a plurality ofnotches 63 having therein rollers 64, as shown in Fig. 8 which is asection taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. '7 looking in the direction of thearrows. Surrounding the hub 62 is a casing 65 rigidly attached to thesprocket 60 by means of machine screws 66. The casing 65 has an openface which is closed by a plate 61 rigidly attached thereto by thescrews 68. The casing 65 is loosely journaledupon the hub 62 and is heldin place by a plate 69 and a screw 10, the latter of which threads intothe shaft 39. By referring to Fig. 8 it will be seen that if the shaft39 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the rollers 64 will effect awedging action between the notches 63 and the interior sur- BI willbecome effectively engaged and cause rotation of the sprocket 60 withthe shaft 39. Upon rotation'of the shaft 39 in a counter-clockwisedirection, the rollers 64 will merely roll over the interior surface ofthe casing 65 without providing any wedging action. Therefore the shaft39 can turn freely while the sprocket BI] remains stationary. g

The clutch associated with the other end of the face conveyer I isarranged to operate in a reverse direction and this is effected byproviding the notches 63 in reverse positions from that illustrated inFig. 8 of the drawings, because whenever the shaft 39 is rotated in aclockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 5, the shaft 39 at the other endof the conveyer will also be operated in a clockwise direction.Therefore the clutch members 62 shown in Fig. 8 should be in reversedpositions at the opposite ends of the conveyer I5.

In the operation of the system the kerf cutter I4 is sumped into thefaces of the mine vein along the line H of Fig. 1, by traction feedrectilinearly along the mine track II, while the chain cutter is drivenin such direction that its left-hand run as viewed in Fig. 1 will emergefrom the face 'of the mine vein and therefore sweep the cuttings fromthe band of foreign material onto the conveyer I5, During such sumpingoperation the conveyer I5 should be driven by the motor 31 in suchdirection as to deliver the cuttings to the rib conveyer 4|. Suchdirection of operation of the conveyor I5 is maintained during arcuatefeeding movement of the kerf cutter I4 toward the other rib 1s, andduring the withdrawal rectilinear feeding movement from the face of themine vein.

When it is desired to change conveying the cuttings to the other ribconveyer 4|, the kerf cutting operations should start along the rib I3and then the kerf cutter should be swung on the axis I2" of theturntable I2 in a clockwise di- I rection, and the withdrawal feedingmovement should be along the line II. Previous to such operation of themining machine kerf-cutting mechanism with the kerf cutterat adjustedelevation,-the direction of travel of the cutter chain should bereversed and the bits set accordingly for such reversed travel. Theobject of thereversal of operation of the chain cutter is to se-. cureemergence of the cutter bits on the advanc ing edge of the cutter bar tofacilitate sweeping of the cuttings from a kerf as'the latter is beingextended.

When the kerf cutter I4 is being operated from. the rib I2 toward therib I3 or in reverse direction, and the cuttings fed either to the ribconveyer 4| or the rib conveyer 4|, the cuttings will be guided by thecoal face chute or apron plate I8 into the arcuate trough I6. It shouldbe particularly noted that by reason of thereversal of the clutchmembers 62 at the opposite ends of the conveyer I5, the rib conveyer towhich material is delivered,- will be driven while the other ribconveyer remains idle. That is to say, upon reversing the mainarcuateconve yer I5 and by reversing the motor 31, the

clutch mechanism illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8 will be automaticallyoperated to drive only that rib conveyer to which material is beingdelivered. When the gob of material formed by delivery of cuttings of,foreign material thereto by. one

of the rib conveyers becomes unduly large, the other rib conveyer may beautomatically brought into operation by reversing the operation of themining machine and reversing the operation of the main conveyer I5. Whenthe bands of foreign material are relatively thin and the available gobspace is relatively large, one of the rib conveyers may be sufiicient,but if the gob space is relatively limited or if the bands of foreignmaterial in the mine vein are relatively thick, it is highly desirableto provide both of the rib conveyers M and 4|, as illustrated in Fig. 1.It is thus evident that a very effective system is provided asillustrated in the drawings, for automatically removing a band offoreign material from a coal vein and conveying it to gobs at the ribswhere it will in no way interfere with the mining of coal free fromdirt, slate, or other foreign material.

The system is also useful to remove coal cuttings, even where there areno dirt bands or bands of foreign material to be removed. In manyinstances, the kerf cutter in operation produces large amounts ofcuttings or slack which must be removed from the room face. Theapparatus is useful to remove these cuttings automatically to a positionremoved from said face.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in thedetails and arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and Itherefore wish not to be restricted to the precise construction hereindisclosed.

Having thus described and shown an embodiment of my invention, what Idesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In conveying apparatus, the combination with a frame, of endlessconveying means adapted to convey material in reverse directions anddischarge it from opposite ends of said frame,

drive means for said conveying means including a driveshaft positionedbelow and intermediate the ends of said frame, conveyer guide means onsaid frame, means for guiding said conveying means to and from saidguide means and said drive means, means for adjusting said drive shafttoward and from said frame to adjust the tension of said endlessconveying means, and means including a motor for driving saiddrive'shaft in reverse directions while providing for the aforesaidadjustment thereof.

2. A conveyer comprising a trough formed of a substantially uniform,arcuate bottom and arcuate side walls between its ends in a horizontalplane, a sprocket at each endof said trough, a continuous universalconveyor chain having the upper run thereof directly above the lowerrun, and mechanism including a sprocket meshing with said lower runintermediate the trough ends to drive said chain in reverse directions.

3. A conveyer comprising a trough which curves substantially from end toend in a horizontal plane, head shafts on opposite ends of said trough,conveyer means comprising a universal chain having upper and lower runsand extending over said head shafts, means for guiding the upper run ofsaid chain in a curve through said trough, and means cooperating withthe lower run for driving said chain in reverse directions.

NILS D. LEVIN.

